Eating lunch in the library is now off limits as the school has decided to ban the practice due to the frequent messes and movement of furniture.
“There has been a lot of food left on the floor, and they have not been cleaning up,” librarian Jane Schiller said. “They have been asked not to move the furniture many times. So before students went on break, it was decided that they would no longer be allowed to eat in here.”
In the past, students have seen signs posted on the library doors stating that the library was temporarily closed due the mess left behind, but it always reopened in a few days. However this time, it looks to be permanent.
“The library has been closed for periods of time for like three or four days, in the hopes that students would say ‘Okay we need to keep this cleaner,’” Schiller said. “But it doesn’t work, and it hasn’t worked in the past for us to close it down for periods of time. So the decision was made to just close it, period.”
Loading ...Initially, the administration decided to permit students to eat lunch in the library for a few different reasons.
“Some kids just don’t want to eat downstairs,” principal Chris Mayfield said. “But the biggest reason was that as we continue to grow the cafeteria fuller and fuller, the library provided a nice outlet for kids to alleviate some of the numbers in lunch.”
As time has passed, teachers and administration have seen that the conversion of the library into a lunch area has taken on toll on the facility.
“What we have seen happen is that the library was really made to only be a library, not a cafeteria,” Mayfield said. “So sometimes, since the library has carpet, and nobody really means to, but you get a grape that drops on the floor, and nobody see it and steps on it. It really becomes more of a question of taking care of our facilities, and using them for what it’s made for and what it’s not.”
For some students, the library provided much more than just a place to eat in lieu of the cafeteria.
“Eating lunch in the library made it convenient because if I have to go do homework, it is a lot easier to do it in the library than in the cafeteria,” senior Olivia Fowler said. “I also don’t really have to skip lunch to do my homework. There was actually room in there as well, as opposed to the cafeteria where there really wasn’t any.”
The administration is also using the time the library is closed to assess just how crowded the cafeteria actually is.
“So really what we have done this week, is that we want to figure out that if the library is not an option, then what does that do to the cafeteria,” Mayfield said. “We want to see if there are enough seats for everyone, and if it is still a manageable good place.”
However, if the administration finds that the cafeteria is too crowded, they might revert back to using the library for alternative seating.
“We are totally open to the idea, that if we need additional space, we will open the library back-up,” Mayfield said. “But we really felt like it’s just not made to be a cafeteria.”
